Evaluation of oral health status and treatment needs of children with heart disease

It is known that individuals with heart disease are at risk of infective endocarditis (IE) and that poor oral health and transient bacteremia occurring during dental treatments are important risk factors in the pathogenesis of IE. This study aimed to examine the socio-demographic characteristics, oral hygiene habits, oral and dental health conditions and treatment needs of children with cardiac disease between the ages of 5 and 14. Data was collected through a survey form administered to the children's parents and children's oral and dental examinations were performed. In children, DMFT/S, dmft/s and ICDAS II indices; the pufa index; the gingival index and plaque index; enamel defects in the teeth, the presence of malocclusion and treatment needs were evaluated and recorded. The mean age of 301 children was 8.95±2.91 years and 271 (90%) of the children had congenital heart disease. Mean dmft was 6.63±4.39, mean dmfs was 15.70±13.64, mean DMFT was 3.56±3.45; mean DMFS was 5.04±6.16. dmfs value of children with moderate and severe heart disease was found to be significantly higher compared to children with simple heart disease (p=0.038). Cavitation was observed in 93% of the children participating in the study. It was determined that 7.0% of the children had initial caries, 17.3% had moderate caries, and 75.7% had extensive caries. Pulp exposure was observed in 21.3% of children, fistula in 7%, abscess in 5.6% and ulceration in 1%. The presence of pulp exposure was found to be significantly higher in children with moderate and severe heart disease compared to children with simple heart disease (p=0.015). The mean plaque index and gingival index were found to be 1.18±0.38 and 0.69±0.53, respectively. Enamel defects were observed in 15.9% of children. While the Treatment Needs Index (TNI) value for the primary teeth was 85.8%, the Care Index (CI) value was found as 12.4%. While the TNI value was 88.9% for the permanent teeth, the CI value was found as 10.8%. According to the data obtained from the study; it was observed that the presence of untreated dental caries, gingivitis, plaque accumulation and the dental treatment need were high in children with heart disease. These results should be considered by dentists in terms of preventing the risk of IE and reducing the negative effects of poor oral health in this population.